After a busy day of writing articles and holding responsibilities at my job from one to five, I go home sit on the couch and crack open a nice refreshing Coors Light. No just kidding, I crack open a nice refreshing Diet Coke, so much more of a pleasant and thirst quenching refreshment. Before I got sober, getting totally blitzed after work was my everyday lifestyle. Now having a job in sobriety has changed my view of how to live a work-filled life, but keep myself in check. Life is full of incentives for doing something well, or what we feel we have done well. When I worked, I worked to drink and get high. My goal was to get off work, crack open a fifth and drink myself to sleep, and wake up and do it all over again. What an unmanageable lifestyle. I never kept a job long either. I’d come in hung over, reeking of booze, unable to complete my tasks in time or to standards. Once they had enough of my shenanigans, they fired me on the spot, without any hesitation. Was I really thinking of asking these individuals to be a reference for me? With the way I came into work still drunk, there’s no way they would have vouched for me in my favor. I’ve finally realized I don’t have to live like that anymore.

Today I work hard, I write quality articles, like the one you are reading right now. I take pride in my work and do it to the best of my ability. I enjoy what I do and don’t use it for an excuse to have my “I deserve this” fifth of alcohol. Knowing that someone appreciates what I write is good enough for me, it replaces alcohol, being sober is a lot better. I’ve worked for a few people in the last three years while in my addiction and nothing compares to the feeling I get from working the job I have now. The sense of accomplishment and knowing I don’t have to drink or drug after work, the horrible lifestyle I lived before, is enticing.

While feeling accomplished and good about my sober working life, the money I acquire doesn’t go towards toxic things anymore, like endless bottles of booze and infinite bags of weed. I use my money wisely, really enjoying the small things like fast-food, quality groceries, and taking girls on nice dates. I never had money for these extra amenities; it all went to my addiction.

Living sober and free of alcoholic oppression, I enjoy keeping a job and working to better myself rather than working to drink and gaining nothing from it. I have co-workers that really care for my well-being and employers that motivate me to produce the best work possible. I live a life full of hard work and get happiness in return, with a little hard-earned cash in my pocket.